Critical Essay by St. John Adcock

SOURCE: "Christopher Morley," in The Glory That Was Grub Street: Impressions of Contemporary Authors, The Musson Book Company, 1928, pp. 237-46.

In the following essay, Adcock praises Morley's versatility but cautions that such diversity can lead to a lack of focus. w

It has been said often enough—I have said it often enough myself—and it must be true since it has been said so often, that it is as unfortunate for an author to be versatile as it is for a man to be born with three heads. With such a superfluity of natural gifts he may win notoriety and some money as a freak in a side-show, but he can hardly hope to succeed in getting himself taken so seriously that the management will put his variety entertainment in large type at the top...